7 Reasons Why YOU Should Do the
CrossFit Games Open (Yes, YOU!)

I’m publishing this post on February 26, which means
we are exactly 8 days away from the start of the 2013
CrossFit Games Open. This also means you only have 5 days
left to register for the CrossFit Games Open. Registration
ends on Sunday, March 3. Here’s the link, you can go register for the Games right now. The
competition consists of 5 different workouts spread out over
5 weeks. It’s only $20 to sign up, I’ll wait right
here…

You haven’t registered yet? Why not? Don’t tell me you have
some whiny excuse about how you can’t do pullups yet, or you
hate burpees or you’re afraid of box jumps. Yeah yeah
yeah, I’ve heard that one before. And here’s the
thing about all your excuses: they are ALL really
lame. Seriously, you really just need to go sign up
for the CrossFit Games Open. There’s NO good excuse not to.

Even though it’s extremely unlikely you will win the CrossFit
Games Open, you should still absolutely sign up to compete. I
could think of a thousand reasons why you should do the
CrossFit Games Open, but I’m just going to explain the top 7
reasons you should do this event.

1. You might learn
something new about CrossFit.

When I did the CrossFit Games Open in 2012, week 2 of the
competition included some silly snatch workout. You had to do
sets of 30 snatches, with 4 different, increasing weights,
within the 10 minute time limit. So of course that was the
week I decided to learn how to snatch properly. Before that
games workout came out, I really hadn’t cared much about
learning proper snatch technique. My particular box gym
didn’t program the snatch very often, so I never went out of
my way to learn it. But then when that competition workout
came out, I suddenly cared about learning how to do a proper
snatch. I was suddenly nagging my coach to watch my form and
give me feedback, pronto. Within two days, I learned a lot
about how to snatch. I was by no means an expert, but at
least I knew how and where to grip the bar properly.

Which is reason #1 to sign up for the Games. Because
when you sign up for a real honest to goodness
competition, your motivation level to learn suddenly
increases 200%. Suddenly, you might pay closer
attention in class, you might actually go watch some videos
online, and you might get someone to videotape your
technique. Because suddenly, your form really matters. When
someone is going to time your workout, and your results are
going to get published online, you want to at least make sure
you are using proper technique during the workout.

When you find yourself in a real competition, you’re
instantly motivated to learn everything you can, as fast as
you can.

2. You might learn
something about yourself. About what you’re really capable
of.

During that same snatch workout from 2012, I started the
workout in a panic. While I had learned the basics of the
snatch, I really didn’t know how much weight I could
consistently lift. 10 minutes is not a very long time, and I
didn’t have a lot of muscle memory to rely on. I predicted I
would get tired very quickly, and I had no idea how many
repetitions I could do in 10 minutes.

The first set of the workout required all women to snatch 45
pounds, 30 times. I cruised through that pretty easily, in
less than 3 minutes. Then I had to snatch 75 pounds. I still
remember how badly I screwed up my first few lifts. I just
couldn’t do it. I literally failed 5 times in a row trying to
snatch 75 pounds. I stared at my friends and they stared back
at me. For a moment I was afraid I just wouldn’t be able to
snatch 75 pounds. But my coach was giving me feedback and I
corrected my form, and I refused to give in to my panic. I
told myself I had to get at least one lift at 75 pounds.

And then on the 6th try, I got it. And I got the 7th try and
then the 8th. And with each consecutive lift, I was learning
how to do the snatch a little bit better. I was getting more
consistent, and then I was repeatedly snatching 75 pounds.

Suddenly I realized I had done 15 snatches, and then 20. I
only had 10 left to go, of the 30 reps with 75 pounds. Time
was running out, but I pushed through my fatigue because 30
reps was now in sight. I was so close I could taste it. I
still remember the last minute of the workout, because I
wanted to rest SO BADLY, but I also wanted to get all 30 reps
done before time ran out. My friends were screaming at me,
and all my attention narrowed to just the barbell and the
clock. All I cared about in the entire world was getting all
30 reps done.

And with just 5 seconds left to go, I finished that 30th rep.
I did it. I had done far better than I had predicted. I never
would have guessed I could get 60 snatches done in 10
minutes, but I did. And that was one highlight of the
competition for me, simply because I learned I could
improve my technique in real time. After missing 5 attempts
with 75 pounds, I went on to finish 30 snatches. And that
feeling was pure awesome.

Which is why you should do the Games. Because when the clock
is running out and your friends are all screaming at you, and
the judge is writing on your scoresheet, you will
find out just exactly how much you can do without passing
out.

I guarantee, you are capable of more than you
think. And when you sign up for the Games, you’re
bound to find out just exactly how much more you can
accomplish before the clock runs out.

3. You might surprise
yourself.

During the first week of the 2012 Games, the workout
consisted of 7 minutes of burpees. If you’ve ever done 7
minutes of straight burpees, you’ll remember that experience.
That horrible memory will probably never leave your mind,
because it’s just that traumatic.

And there’s no way to sugarcoat this, but I sucked at that
workout. I’ve never done well at any CrossFit workout that
consists of only 1 movement. So yeah, I sucked, I think I
only finished 85 burpees that week. My memory is hazy, but
that put me near the bottom of the rankings. The act of doing
7 minutes of burpees was horrible, and my results were also
horrible.

But then week 3 came along. YEAH for week 3! The week 3
workout included box jumps, push press, and toes to bar. Woo
hoo! Now THAT was my kind of workout. I wasn’t going to win
that week, but I wasn’t going to finish at the bottom. Sure
enough, when all my friends got together to do that workout,
I didn’t stink. I cruised through that workout with probably
my best finish of the Games.

After completely sucking at burpees, I surprised myself with
the box jump/push press/toes to bar combo. I redeemed myself!
And so can you. I guarantee it.

And that’s the thing about a competition that is 5 weeks
along – the chances are good that you’ll do well
during at least 1 of the workouts! It’s a statistical
probability that you are good at SOMETHING!

So sign up for the Games, so you can surprise yourself with
whatever movement or skill you happen to be good at.
Everyone is good at something, and you just
might surprise yourself one of the weeks and beat your own
expectations.

4. You might meet some
new cool people you want to hang out with.

If you are tempted to skip the CrossFit Games and stay home
on the couch instead, you aren’t likely to find any new cool
crazy friends. Because the last time I checked there weren’t
any cool crazy people hanging out on your couch watching TV
and eating Doritos.

Nope, the cool crazy people are hanging out – and working out
– in their garage gym or their local CrossFit box doing
burpees and pullups and pushups.

Many research studies have shown we tend to
mimic the qualities of the 5 people we spend the most time
with. And if your couch is the person you spend the
most time with, then you are probably soft and plump and
maybe lumpy. Which is just not cool.

Especially when you could just as easily spend your Saturday
morning doing burpees and pullups and pushups with some
badass people. Who are also likely to cheer for you when you
get your first pullup or when you finish your 7 minutes of
burpees.

If you sign up for the CrossFit Games, then you’ll
find out who else in your neighborhood is committed to
getting stronger and more fit. And then you can
spend more time with those people, because it’s always fun to
hang out with motivated people who are up for doing something
crazy like 7 minutes of burpees.

5. You might get
inspired.

When a bunch of my girlfriends and I got together last year
to do the Games workouts together on Saturday mornings, my
friend Holly usually brought her kids to watch. All 6 of
them. Yes they kept themselves entertained and they watched
us do our competition workouts together.

Holly was my friend newest to CrossFit, our brand new
CrossFit convert. And she struggled with some of the
competition workouts. Many of the movements were still new to
her. But you know what?

Holly did all the workouts.She did
all the workouts while her 6 kids watched her. She was –
right then and there – setting an example of how to be an
extraordinary role model. She didn’t quit, she
didn’t walk away, she just kept doing each and every workout.
No matter how discouraged she was, she didn’t give up.

She showed her kids, and all of her friends, what it
means to have courage and to persevere. Holly was my
friend newest to CrossFit and yet she was the person who
inspired me the most during the 2012 CrossFit Games.

When you sign up to compete in the CrossFit Games, you will
probably find someone around you, in your gym or in your new
group of friends, who inspires you. It might be the mom with
the 6 kids, or it might be the 60 year old grandpa, or it
might be the 17 year old high school kid (Hi Parker!) who
comes to the gym before school every day.

I guarantee you’ll meet someone during the CrossFit
Games Open who demonstrates courage and tenacity, someone who
makes you proud to workout next to them. You’ll meet someone
who inspires you.

And if you’d like, I’ll be happy to introduce you to Holly.

6. You might inspire
others.

Then again, you might BE Holly. You might be the brand new
CrossFitter who just joined the gym last month, who still
uses a band to help you do pullups. If you are that person, I
think you are awesome. Because to sign up for new challenge
like the CrossFit Games demonstrates guts and determination
and more than a little bit of faith. Faith in yourself that
you are up for a solid challenge.

You just might be the person who inspires your kids,
or your spouse, or your coworkers or your neighbors. You just
never know who is paying attention to what you do.
But when you sign up to compete, you are showing everyone you
aren’t afraid of a few burpees.

Congratulations on being the type of person willing
to inspire others.

If you are new to CrossFit then I ESPECIALLY encourage you to
sign up for the CrossFit Games this year. Because this
competition will give you a baseline of your current
capabilities. Then a year from now you can look back at your
results and see how much you’ve improved.

And if you’ve been doing CrossFit for even a couple months,
then this will give you a great opportunity to test yourself.
There’s absolutely no downside to competing, all you will
lose is $20 from your wallet. And maybe a couple pounds of
sweat. But what you gain in inspiration and pride
will be worth far more than $20.

7. You just might kick
some ass.

I guarantee if you sign up for the CrossFit Games, you will
have at least one moment during the 5 weeks where you feel
totally and completely awesome. That moment of awesome might
happen right before you collapse onto the gym floor, or it
might be the second right before the workout starts. Then
again, it might be when you watch your friend get her first
muscle-up or it might be when you snatch more weight than
you’ve ever snatched before.

When you sign up for the CrossFit Games, you are essentially
agreeing to experience something extraordinary.

When you sign up, you are agreeing to do something to
amaze yourself. Because during the 5 weeks of the competition
you WILL do something amazing. But only if you sign
up.

Have You Signed Up
Yet?

Runners have the marathon. Cyclists have the century ride.
Triathletes have the Ironman. All those events set the stage
for personal and memorable victories. In all those events,
every finish line is a victory, and every athlete has a
personal story to tell about their journey.

CrossFit doesn’t have any finish line. All we have is
the timer clock that eventually runs down to zero.

But when that timer clock runs down to zero, you could have
an amazing story to tell. You could have a victory worth
celebrating.

I hope you do.

I hope you sign up for the CrossFit Games so you can show
your family and friends just exactly what you are capable of.

But mostly I hope you sign up so you can show
yourself what you are capable of.

Here’s a photo of Krista – doing Power Cleans – and training
for the 2013 CrossFit Games.

This challenge isn’t focused toward one particular group, it’s
community wide. It’s an in gym and out in the world challenge. It’s
meant to carry you from waking to sleeping and everything in between.

Upon completion, my hope is that the challenge has a lasting effect.
That it had a positive effect on your one week, so you want to continue
your efforts and make things a little better every day.

A couple weeks after you’re finished with the challenge, if you feel
the effects are starting to dwindle, bookmark this article and come read
it again to start the process over.

SO here’s the challenge:

- Upon waking: Smile. To yourself, to your significant other, to your dog. Just smile.

- Walking out your door: Pay a compliment to the first person you have a conversation with. Whomever they are, for whatever reason, it will probably feel uncomfortable but DO IT.

- When you’re working out: Support someone else’s efforts. If
they’re trying to learn something new, going for a max effort, or
showing up to the gym for the first time, let them know your notice.

Repeat these steps every day for a week. Mini Challenge Complete!

Hidden within these three steps are a library of benefits and life
changing physiological elements. Make this a test, re-test sample period
(to take an idea form Kelly Starrett). Take note of how you’re feeling today, and on the last day of your challenge, then compare.

The 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games season is a 3-stage test
of fitness, comprised of the Open, Regionals, and the world
championships - the CrossFit Games. The season kicks off with the
Open, the most inclusive competition in the world. The top
athletes and teams in each world-wide region from the Open will
move onto Regionals. The best athletes and teams at Regionals
will compete at the CrossFit Games, the world’s premier test to
find the Fittest on Earth.

In order to identify the fittest, CrossFit invites
everyone in the world to compete in the Open. Every
Wednesday evening, from March 6 to April 3, an Open workout is
posted. Everyone then has until that Sunday evening to complete
the workout and register their score.

Each week, for 5 weeks, we will ALL be doing the Open WOD,
putting our times up against the world! CrossFit Flagstaff
is competing and we want as many of you as possible competing for
our team, so please register before the 2nd. (register
here)

Remember: EVERYONE can
compete in the Open and last year MANY of our CrossFitters did. As a
result, we saw a TON of breakthroughs on what people could lift,
how high they could jump, the fact that they could do full
pushups even though they thought they couldn't, etc etc, the list
goes on. Competition pushes away the impossible and shows
you what IS possible. SIGN UP! Be part of our
team!

Three Goals for the Open: CrossFit
Goodland -"Everyone in the gym is going to do all of
the Open Workouts," CrossFit Goodland owner Nick Conn says.
"I'm really just hoping to use [the Open] as a learning
experience." That is a direct echo of CrossFit
Flagstaff.

CrossFit Flagstaff Schedule
for the Open:

The workouts will be announced each
Wednesday evening at 5:00 p.m.

Every week that workout
will be on Thursday as the WOD. We are going to
have a big workout event every Thursday at the
6:30 class and we invite all who can attend to
come and workout together and we'll run it in a bunch of heats
with judges for everyone. If you can't make that 6:30
class, you may come to any class throughout that day, and you'll
have Sunday to make it up as well.

If you ABSOLUTELY can't make
Thursday or Sunday classes and MUST do it another time, you may
arrange a time with a trainer.

I’m joining the CrossFit Open again. I’ll
probably be in the Open until I die, tossing aside a cane to
throw myself up on the pull-up bar, and overhead squatting my
walker. I’m just that way. Stubborn and aggressively optimistic.

The Open is fun. It’s wild and crazy and so full
of enthusiasm that it makes you wonder for our sanity. “7 minutes
of burpees? Ok!” I did that one last year, after three days of a
horrible stomach virus that left me sleeping on the bathroom
floor. But I wasn’t going to miss the start of the Open. I
dragged myself to the box, and for seven minutes, threw myself
down on the ground and then got back up. Then I turned some
horrendous shade of grey, and spent several minutes in the
CrossFit Santa Cruz parking lot, trying not to throw up. Good
times.

And that’s what’s wrong with us, right? This is
the kind of story we remember. These are the things that make us
happy. Sure it’s fun to see who leads the Open, like it’s fun to
watch the real beasts of your gym do incredible shit, but it’s
the stories of perseverance, drive, and hope in the face of bad
odds that make us smile and be proud to call ourselves
CrossFitters. It’s competing, even when you have no chance of
winning. It’s putting yourself out there. Having heart, in the
face of a world that seems to want to stomp it out of your chest.

CrossFit isn’t just a workout, or a movement. It’s a
warrior cry on a windswept plain when the enemy is all around
you. And that’s kind of cool.

So, I’m joining the Open again this year. A
47-year-old woman with a couple of body parts that have seen
better days. (I’m talking about my knee and my shoulder. AHEM.
Get your mind out of the gutter.) I’m not fast, I’m not agile,
but the squat is my best friend. So, I’m plunking down my $20
today and I’m taking my place in the ranks. Join me. We’re going
to have SO much fun.

Liberty Took her fitness out side the box to Vegas and did "The Color Run". Matt Zeilman and his daughter Izzy rode their new bikes in Sedona. How did you enjoy the weather and take YOUR Fitness outside the box this weekend?

CrossFit affiliates world-wide will come together today and perform a workout to raise awareness and money to support the CrossFit Kenya Initiative.

What is Hope for Kenya?

CrossFit
Inc. is committed to making people's lives better in the 250
square-mile rural area surrounding Mombasa, Kenya. Education, food, and
water are three major needs for the population in this area. Through the
efforts of our affiliates, we can help the people of Kenya commit to,
and invest in, improving their own conditions. We provide no handouts.
By creating realistic, self-sustaining solutions to specific problems,
we enable Kenyans to stand strong for generations to come.

THIS COMING Saturday, February 16th, affiliates world-wide will come together and perform a workout to raise awareness and money to support the CrossFit Kenya Initiative.

What is Hope for Kenya?

CrossFit
Inc. is committed to making people's lives better in the 250
square-mile rural area surrounding Mombasa, Kenya. Education, food, and
water are three major needs for the population in this area. Through the
efforts of our affiliates, we can help the people of Kenya commit to,
and invest in, improving their own conditions. We provide no handouts.
By creating realistic, self-sustaining solutions to specific problems,
we enable Kenyans to stand strong for generations to come.

CrossFit-funded collection systems are freeing Kenyan women from the
burden of transporting water, allowing them to pursue education and take
important steps toward equality.

Their ambitions are the same as those of kids everywhere, but the
opportunities in the Kasemeni Division of eastern Kenya are very
different.

Across this 250-square-mile region, small villages of mud-walled
huts and thatched roofs cluster in shallow green valleys and atop bald
red clay hills that look east to the brown haze of the port city of
Mombasa and the blue water of the Indian Ocean beyond.

Small patches of farmland are carved from the dense clay along the
hillsides using a short, wide-bladed hoe called a jembe. The length of
the handmade tool forces the workers to bend from the waist from sun-up
to sundown as they swing and turn the soil. But years of experience,
skill and strength allow the farmer to plant acres of corn in a day,
often with a baby on her hip.

And if that baby happens to be a girl, odds are she, too, will be
scratching at the earth with an Iron Age tool with a child on her own
hip before she is 18. In this part of Kenya, the children are many, the
schools are few, and too many ambitions, especially those of young
girls, are thwarted at too young an age.

CrossFit and CrossFit affiliates have decided to take some of the
burden from the backs of those who have carried it too long. Education,
nutrition and clean water are this community’s biggest challenges. Now,
they are CrossFit’s greatest responsibility.

“This is all about women,” says Greg Glassman, Founder and CEO of
CrossFit Inc. “Every little girl is as important as every little boy.
This is CrossFit making a stand for women’s rights.”

Two Paths

When were we taught to compare ourselves to others? When were we taught that what someone else did was better than what we did? Did it start in grade school when we got picked last for the kickball team? Or maybe in high school when our classmate Jessica did something right while we were scolded for doing the opposite? Or was it when we got older and our best friend lifted more than we did at the gym?

Whatever the situation may be, we compare ourselves. We compare ourselves to friends, classmates, coworkers, and even our significant others. We worry about what others are accomplishing and dwell on what we have not. And while worrying, we forget our own accomplishments. We forget our goals. And we forget how far we have come.

I watch people compare themselves every day in the gym. I watch them stare at another person’s barbell while they load their own. I watch them worry about beating another person’s time so much they completely throw form out the door. And I watch others sink into frustration and sadness when they don’t beat their friend’s score. But what is that accomplishing? How are we improving ourselves if the only thing we are doing is steering off our own course and trying to follow the path of another?

As I get older and wiser (just let it be known, I’m 24 so I really know nothing), I have figured out that I don’t want to follow someone else’s path. I want to create my own destiny. And, yes, I know how lame that sounds. But I don’t want to be like anyone else. I don’t want to set my goals based on someone other than myself.

The thing is, I can’t lift 200lbs over my head. I can’t string together muscle ups like the athletes you watch on TV. And I can’t do strict handstand push ups. Yet. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t worked my ass off. That doesn’t mean I don’t try. That doesn’t make me a sh*tty athlete. It makes me human. And as humans, we have to work for what we want to accomplish. Thinking about what others have done doesn’t make us stronger. Getting our ass in the gym, does. Blood, sweat, and tears do.

In my 24 years of figuring out who the hell I am, I have finally figured out that I don’t want to be anyone but myself. CrossFit has taught me that comparing myself to others will get me nowhere. Hard work will. Not f*cking wishful thinking. Not hoping and dreaming to be like someone else. Setting my goals high and working to accomplish those goals are what make me who I am.

So stop comparing yourself to others. Stop trying to be someone else. Start figuring out what the hell you are going to accomplish today. Then do it.